Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Phillies continue to stockpile middle infield options (Chase Utley insurance), this time signing 2B/3B Ronnie Belliard to a minor league deal, according to Todd Zolecki. Belliard, a 13 year MLB veteran, will report to Lehigh Valley and should compete with Kevin Frandsen to be the first middle infield call-up in case there are more injuries. He's coming off a pretty terrible year with the Dodgers where he hit .216 with a .295 OBP. Belliard spent the spring with the Yankees before being released.

The Phillies are taking another middle-infield flier on Belliard. At age 35, Belliard is likely washed up, but there is always a chance that he could have a bounce-back year and hit something close to his career .273 average and .338 OBP. Should that happen, the Phillies could have a useful bench piece later in the season. Don't count on it, though.